Apparatus for liquid treatment of strands



April 14, 1953 H. J. MGDERMO'I'I' APPARATUS FOR uqum TREATMENT OF STRANDS Filed April 6, 1945 Patented Apr. 14, 1953 UNITED STAT O FF ICE APPARATUS'FOR LIQUID TREA'EBIEN'I. 0F STBANDS' Application April 6, 1845; Serial No. 586,993-

l. The present invention reiatesto apparatusfor the licniidv treatment of strands and is particularly concerned; With' the type; of apparatus in.

which. the strand proceeds in. a generally helical path about one; or; more rotors.

Heretofore, there has been no. satisfactory answer to. the: problems. involved in maintaining treating; liquids separate When it is desiredto apply two or more such. liquids of'd'iffierent' composition. in succession to axially displaced portions-of: the helix. One. suggestion has been to provide an annular baiileor ridge to separate the difierent,treatingzonesof therotor. or rotors; Howeventhis has the disadvantage of requiring the helix to be carefully positioned so that none of its convolutions-cross the-battle orridge as the strand proceeds from one treating zoneto the adjacent zone following. Failure to predete"- minethe-pathi of thewindings inthe helixsozthat they will not make contact with theridgezresults ins stretching. or disiortion of the: strand either continuously or at intervals. thereon depending upon the nature of contact.

It. is, the chiefohjectot the present invention to providean improved. arrangement for minimizing intermingling of different. liquids in adjacent treatingzones of the. rotor or rotors While. assuring that, the eiiiective. diameter ofthe strand carrying periphery of. the rotor rotors, isnot substantially changed between adjacent zones of. suchrotors. In. accordance with. thepresent invention, this is accomplished by providing a plurality of. inclinednotchesoxt recesses arranged ina band about the rotor Whereseparation oithe liquids is required. Ancillary objects-endedvantages of. the invention. will be apparent from the; drawing. and. description thereofhereinafter;

Inthe drawing which is illustrative of the invention,

Figure 1 is perspective View with parts inse t.- tionof anapparatusembodying the present invention,.

Figure. 2. is anendelevation oi the embodiment of. Figure 1,.

Figurefi isa side. elevation of one of: the rotors of thiseinbodhnent,

Figure 4: is an enlarged view, in perspective of a portion of the surface of the. rotor showing a preferred form recess, and

Figure a. perspective View illustrating modified form of drip. pan: adapted to he. associated with. the rotors;

As sh. wn generally in Figures- 1 and 2,. the strand 2' proceeds around a: pair of vertically spaced rotors; 3* and 4; which, are mounted on shaits E and: 6: respectively. for rotation. The. rotors may. be freely rotatable or either one; or hotlsmay'be driucm Preferably, the upper: one is driven. TherotorsE-and time} he cylindrical and mounted on slightly canted or ashew= axes of rotation or they he trestle-conical, pref erably tapering torasmaller. diameter at theune supported endstherecf, inwhichlatter case they: may; be mounted on suhstantially parallel axes. Preferably the strand is led to the rotors. near their supported; ends so it: is discharged from the unsupported ends. Different liquids may be supplied to. spaced zones of the upper rotor. by means ef'theieed-pipes'i and 8 actively and tQvth 1D3VEEBQtOY by the. feed pipes la and. 8a respectively. -t desired, pipes ta and 3a,. may be omitted and the lower rotor may deriveits liquid {rem the-upper thiioughztheagency of the courses of the-strand extending betweenthemor, in adclition;-,. by dripping. action from, the. upper. rotor. Each zone of each rotor may be provided with. a separate (1 'ippan. Asshown thetreatmentsone of. the uoper rotor near its supported. end. operates wthin dripv pan. 5 which may have. a. dis.- char-ge connection; 58. The lower rotor. is. pro.- vided. with two generally concentrically arranged dripipanss H and. respectively,. the. former for thezone toward the supported end or". the rotor and thelatter towardthe.unsupported end thereoil Preferably, the drip. pens. are. spaced with their internal surfaces: in. close proximity to. the windings: about the rotors. but. without touching them and as shown, it. is desirable. that. the bot toms of. the. pans. slope downwardly toward. the end of the rotor or. rotors tromwhich. the strand proceeds, this. being. the. supported. end. as shown. This construction assists. counter-current flow; The liquid feeding. pipes l and. 3., in such event, arepreferably positioned toward the strand discharge ends of. the respective treatin zones of the rotors. Also, as shownthe pans embrace. a major portion of. the. lower half of the rotor periphery.

Each. rotor is. provided with a plurality of inclined recesseson notches. l3. arranged in av band intervening. between. the treatment zones. While a. single band of such. recesses may, be. used, two adjacent. bands are shown. and. their construe.- tion and. arrangement. is more particularly illustrated. in Figures 3- and 4:. As there. shown, the. notches. have an arena-ta: bottom surface. IA and the recessesinthe two-rows.areoppositelvinclined (approximately 45 to a generating, elementof'the: rotor surface as shown). The angle of inclination: of. theirecesses is not. critical and may advantageously range between about 30 to 60", though an approximate angle of 45 is preferred. Preferably, when two bands of recesses are used, their inclination is so related to the rotation of the rotor that adjacent recesses in the two bands have the same relationship as the flukes of an arrow head indicating the direc tion of rotation of the rotor as illustrated in Figure 3. However, the opposite direction may be taken or the notches of the several bands may be more or less parallel rather than opposed in inclination. Any number of bands may be used and the recesses in each band may be spaced at various distances more or less than that shown in the drawing. Where two rows of recesses are involved, the recesses in one row may be generally aligned with respect to those in the other row, as shown in Figure 3, or they may be staggered with respect thereto peripherally of the rotor. The spacing between the recesses in any given band should preferably be such as to provide intervening lands l5 of substantial thread bearing length peripherally of the rotor. Instead of arcuate bottoms to the recesses, they may be strictly flat or irregular as desired.

The strand may proceed from one treating zone to the other by way of a plurality of courses or reaches extending through the band occupied by the recesses and it may be carried solely by the lands I5 between the recesses without undergoing a substantial change in length or any substantial distortion. However, if desired, a guide I 6 may be provided upon a suitable stationary arm l1 carried on the bracket 18 for displacing the strand from one treating zone to the next while preventing its making contact with the in tervening recessed band of the rotor or rotors. This guide may be mounted pivotally at [9 upon the arm I! so that it may be flipped at will into and out of operative position which is limited by the detent 20.

Figure 5 illustrates a modified pan 2| having its arcuate internal surface provided with ridges indicated by the lines 22 inclined from a direction parallel to the axis of its arcuate surface. As shown, the internal surfaces of the ridges, i. e. the edges facing the rotor, are in close proximity to the rotor and the windings about the rotor but do not touch them so that the yarn sheet on the lower half portion of the rotor periphery opposite the pan will pass through a thin layer of the processing liquid in the pan. Such ridging assists counter-current action when sufficient liquid is carried by the pan to make substantial contact with the rotor cooperating therewith. This pan may be arranged with or without the downward slope shown in connection with thepans 9, II, and I2, of Figures 1 and 2.

The invention is adapted to the liquid treatment of a strand of any character whatsoever. Thus, it may be applied to the processing of artificial filaments or of continuous filament yarns thereof made in accordance with the viscose, cuprammonium cellulose, or any other process. It is also adaptable to the liquid treatment, coat ing, ornamenting, and so forth of continuous filamentary material, of artificial or natural filaments, or fibers, yarns, cords, strands, cables, ropes, and the like as well as similar constructions made of metallic wires or the like which have sufiicient flexibility. While the drawing illustrates the invention as applied to a two-stage liquid process, it may be used in connection with a process involving any number of liquid-treatment stages which are axially displaced of a common thread-carrying rotor system, comprising one or more rotors adapted to advance the thread axially of the system in a helical path.

It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for the treatment of a strand comprising a rotor over which the strand is adapted to proceed in a path comprising a plurality of laterally spaced convolutions and a plurality of notches each having a bottom surface arcuate in the direction of length of the notch, said notches being inclined wih respect to a generating element of the rotor surface and arranged in a band about the rotor and spaced apart in a peripheral direction to provide strand-carrying lands of substantial peripheral length therebetween, thereby separating the periphery of the rotor into at least two axially spaced threadtreating zones each having a length parallel to the axis of the rotor comparatively large with respect to the notched band, and means for applying different liquids to the several strandcarrying zones.

2. In apparatus for the treatment of a strand comprising two spaced rotors adapted to receive a strand and to advance it axially thereof in a plurality of spaced elongated helical loops, means for applying different liquids to difierent axially spaced treating zones of at least one of the rotors, means on each of said rotors for reducing the mtermingling of the different liquids applied to adjacent treating zones, and guide means arranged to extend from a support in the space between the rotors to guide the strand from the discharge end of one of said liquid treating zones to the receiving end of the next adjacent of said liquid treating zones.

3. In apparatus for the treatment of a strand comprising two spaced rotors adapted to receive a strand and to advance it axially thereof in a plurality of laterally spaced elongated loops, each rotor having a plurality of notches inclined with respect to a generating element of the rotor surface and arranged in two annular rows spaced axially of the rotor thereby separating the periphery thereof into at least two axially spaced thread-treating zones each having a length parallel to the axis of the rotor comparatively large with respect to the notched band, the notches in one of said rows being inclined in a direction opposite to the inclination of the notches in the other row, and guide means arranged to extend from a support in the space between the rotors to guide the strand from the discharge end of one of said liquid treating zones to the receiving end of the next adjacent of said liquid treating zones.

4. Apparatus for the treatment of a strand comprising a rotor over which the strand is adapted to proceed in a path comprising a plurality of laterally spaced convolutions, said rotor having at least two axially spaced treating zones, separate means for applying treating liquids to each of the two treating zones, a plurality of notches each having a bottom surface arcuate in the direction of length of the notch, said notches being inclined with respect to a generating element of the rotor surface and arranged about the rotor in a relatively narrow band disposed adjacent and between the two zones.

5. Apparatus for the treatment of a strand comprising a rotor over which the strand is adapted to proceed in a path comprising a plurality of laterally spaced convolutions, said rotor having at least two axially spaced treating zones, separate means for applying treating liquids to each of the two treating zones, a plurality of notches each having a bottom surface arcuate in the direction of length of the notch, said notches being inclined with respect to a generating element of the rotor surface and arranged about the rotor in a relatively narrow band disposed adjacent and between the two zones and being spaced apart in a peripheral direction to provide strandcarrying lands of substantial peripheral length therebetween.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which the notches are inclined at an angle of 30 to 60 degrees to a generating element of the surface of the rotor.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which the notches are inclined at an angle of about 45 degrees to a generating element of the surface of the rotor.

8. Apparatus for the treatment of a strand comprising a rotor over which the strand is adapted to proceed in a path comprising a plurality of laterally spaced convolutions, said rotor having at least two axially spaced treating zones, separate means for applying treating liquids to each of the two treating zones, a plurality of notches each having a bottom surface arcuate in the direction of length of the notch, said notches being inclined with respect to a generating element of the rotor surface and arranged about the rotor in a plurality of annular rows spaced apart axially of the rotor and disposed adjacent and between the two zones, the notches in one row being inclined in a direction opposite to the inclination of the notches in an adjacent row and the notches in each row being spaced apart in a peripheral direction to provide strand-carrying lands of substantial peripheral length therebetween.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 in which the notches are inclined at an angle of 30 to 60 degrees to a generating element of the surface of the rotor.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 in which the notches are inclined at an angle of about 45 degrees to a generating element of the surface of the rotor. I

HENRY J. MCDERMOTI'.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 456,067 Seymour July 14, 1891 653,714 Thurman July 17, 1900 1,713,408 Swift May 14, 1929 1,868,017 McGinty July 19, 1932 1,917,419 Andresen July 11, 1933 2,020,057 Hartmann Nov. 5, 1935 2,201,226 Carlson May 21, 1940 2,254,251 Uytenbogaart Sept. 2, 1941 2,348,415 Polak May 9, 1944 2,416,534 Naumann Feb. 25, 194'! 2,582,293 Stanley Jan. 15, 1952 

